Facilitator Guide
The Centre for Global Health, University of Oslo is proud to present this course free of charge. This course can be completed individually, but as we have used many of these elements in interactive onsite courses, seminars, and workshops, we have decided to provide a facilitator guide, which we welcome to use in groups. You can do this in person, or virtually, placing participants in small groups as well as hosting plenary sessions. We hope this can be helpful in your context. Please give us feedback on how this worked for you: global-health@uio.no.
View Guide
How to prepare
As a future facilitator, we encourage you to first complete the course yourself, complete the recommended exercises or challenges, use time on the reflections and visit the resources. Take notes on what you think is important based on your setting, the environment and culture you work in. These are all aspects your group needs to heed. Please be mindful that the topics might need adaptation to your context and thus expanded with relevant materials.
Please develop context unique learning objectives that cover what you want to achieve with this course. This will also be your guide when using this training course. Please present that to your participants.
Modules
Each module or theme can be regarded as a stand-alone group session. You can also choose to combine Modules based on the context unique learning objectives you develop.
You can use at least two different strategies. 1) Ask your participants to have watched the video(s) before attending the group session or class, or 2) Do it together in the beginning of the session. Please feel free to combine this with additional information, increasing the depth of the topics.
Small groups
In small groups, preferably not more than six, if relevant based on culture or context, consider separating men and women in different groups, and have them discuss the reflections provided most relevant for your context or additional questions you have identified. It is our experience that in cultures with clear or strict gender roles, collective learning is enhanced when genders are separated.
Ask each group to take notes, and if possible, write it on a Flip Chart or a PPT slide. This permit saving the reflections for later use as this can give the group and you a perspective or their progress through the course.
Plenary session
Each group reports-back their reflections and considerations in the plenary sessions. Invite the other groups to reflect or comment. As a facilitator, remember to encourage consideration related to tradition, context, gender or cultural aspects to increase the depth and relevance of reflections.
Summarize, look for patterns, look for system, discipline or area, professional, gender or person related aspects.
Please work especially on asking open-ended questions. Develop a set of such questions that are relevant to your context to ease your facilitation.
Download Guide (PDF)
Course Lecturers
Jeanette H. Magnus MD, PhD
Director, Centre for Global Health, Faculty of Medicine, University of Oslo, Norway and Adjunct Professor of Global Health, Dept. of Social, Behavioral, and Population Sciences, Tulane School of Public Health and Tropical Medicine, New Orleans, USA
Background
- MD Rheumatologist, Clinical research
- PhD, Chronic diseases, Epidemiology, Women’s and Minority Health, Social Determinates of Health, Global Health
- Published over 130 peer reviewed papers in high impact international journals
- Professor, Department Chair, Director of several Centers, Institute Head, Head of various Boards
- Has trained, taught, led and guided health professionals since 1986 and supervised master and PhD students since 1992
- Taught, led, advised, directed, and developed leadership classes, courses, workshops and programs in USA, Norway and Africa since 2000.
The training especially builds upon courses and seminars provided:
- at Tulane School of Public Health and Tropical Medicine, US
- at Continued Medical Education Conferences for Physicians, Norway
- at Mekelle Medical School in the Biostatistics and Health Informatics Master’s Program, Ethiopia
- at Jimma University and St. Paul’s Hospital Millennium Medical College, the JEWEL program for female staff from public universities in Ethiopia
- at North-Western State Medical University named after I.I. Mechnikov, St. Petersburg, Russia
Bernadette Kumar MD, PhD
Special Advisor, Norwegian Institute of Public Health, Norway | Professor, Empower School of Health, India | Affiliated Professor, School of Medicine Kathmandu University, Nepal | Co-Chair, Lancet Migration | President, EUPHA MIG Section | Chair, Global Society on Migration, Ethnicity Race and Health
Background
- MD, Acute Medicine, General Surgery, Tropical Medicine
- PhD, Chronic diseases, Public Health and Epidemiology, Migration and Minority Health, Maternal and Child Health, Inequalities in Health, Diversity, Global Health
- Published over 95 peer reviewed papers in high impact international journals and two textbooks on migrant health
- Over 30 years of experience in global health working in South Sudan, Kenya/Somalia, West Bank and Gaza, North Korea, Bhutan, China and Nepal
- Over 30 years experience working with health policy and strategy for UN organizations (UNICEF, WFP, World Bank, WHO and UNFPA), EU and national governments
- Has served on several international and national steering committees, boards and councils since 2000
- Has trained, taught, led and guided health professionals since 1992 and supervised master and PhD students since 2000
Supplemental Conversations
Conversation - Challenges of being a leader
Professor Bernadette Kumar shares her experiences of being a women leader with Professor Jeanette H. Magnus. Kumar touches on gender roles and her experiences of being a women leader in diverse cultural settings. She reflects on the challenges she has faced and the importance of being able to acknowledge what works in one context may not work in another. Therefore, as a leader you must be able to adapt and reinvent. Most importantly, the ability to look through the lens of others and not only your own is key, which she admits takes time. Although some of the challenges in leadership may be daunting – if you are grounded in your ‘roots’ (core values and traits), it will be easier to move towards a solution. Being an active listener and learning how to ask rather than conclude are leadership-like traits that can be developed over time and are key to a productive leader.
Conversation - Leadership styles
Professors Jeanette H. Magnus and Bernadette Kumar discuss several aspects of leadership styles and ways to identify the best style for yourself when stepping into a leadership role. The takeaway message is to select a style that is most relevant to you as a person. Although leadership includes others, it is important to begin the journey with yourself and look inwards. When developing leadership skills, it is key to take the time needed to get to know yourself before considering which leadership style you would like to possess. For example, identifying your core values is one way to assist with the selection of a style that is most fitting to you as an individual. Over time, these values may change, however it is imperative to recognize these throughout and continue to reflect on yourself while advancing as a leader.
Conversation - Diversity in the workplace
Professors Jeanette H. Magnus and Bernadette Kumar talk about the challenges and gains of diversity in the workplace. Magnus point to that diversity in the workplace can be the actual diversity of its members such as gender, ethnicity, and age. It also pertains to the diversities among its members regarding personalities, skills, and competencies. Diversity within the workplace and diverse workplaces present challenges and advantages. Being able to identify these aspects is imperative to being a leader. As a leader, it is important above all to understand that different personalities will be present and will play a role in a team setting. Understanding the preferences of your team members will also be an advantage to identify and lead successful teams.
Conversation - Aspects of communication
Professors Jeanette H. Magnus and Bernadette Kumar discuss the importance of and reflect on the different forms of communication while in a leadership role. Having the ability to associate and contextualize will lead to a stronger line of verbal communication, especially among diverse groups and within unfamiliar cultural settings. Non-verbal communication such as body language is just as important as verbal communication and can often be more difficult to translate when working in a multicultural context. The act of observing or simply asking can assist you as a leader with building stronger and more universal communication skills.
Feedback
What did you think of the course? We would like to hear from you and welcome any feedback pertaining to the course (videos, material, objectives, etc.). Simply use the survey below or send your feedback to global-health@uio.no.
Appreciation
The Centre for Global Health, University of Oslo, is grateful to
- The Norwegian Agency for Development Cooperation
- The Directorate for Higher Education and Skills
- The Norwegian Directorate for Children, Youth and Family Affair
for partial funding of the leadership training activities outside Norway, and for the support in developing this digital training course.